Life V. Marathon Day 21

I had to break today's run into two parts to hit 2 hours. I did 11 this morning and 5.5 this evening. I really had to psych  myself up to get out the door for a second time today. Compression socks feel so good after putting in the miles.

Tomorrow is 50-60 minutes easy.

Life V. Marathon Day 20

I didn't feel well when I woke up this morning. Maybe it was the duck and three glasses of wine I had late last night, or maybe it was the workout I had planned today. If you recall, two Saturdays ago I had this very workout to do and it ended in complete failure. Today's plan was 6m easy, 4m @mp, 1m easy, 4m tempo, 1m easy. I've come to the conclusion that this workout is impossible, at least for this runner.

Whatever the reason, I didn't do my planned run. I ended up doing 5.5 miles in the blistering heat at 4:30 pm. It was not my best day. Tomorrow's plan is 2 hours of easy running.

Life V. Marathon Day 19

Today was a recovery day. I did about 4 miles in 31 minutes. Tomorrow is 6 miles easy, 4 mile goal MP, 1 mile easy, 4 miles tempo, 1 mile easy.

Life V. Marathon Day 18

I ran for 83 minutes and did 12.25 miles. First part of the run was spent doing the usual Thursday hill workout, then of to the track to do a couple mile repeats.

Tomorrow is Recovery Day, my favorite. 30 minutes of easy jogging.

Life V. Marathon Day 17

I consider myself to be fairly intelligent, but sometimes I do something so stupid it makes me question whether or not I should check myself into assisted living. I was out of clean running clothes this morning. I usually hand wash everything until it's too funky for even James Brown to handle. The only thing acceptable was the stuff I wore on last nights running, which was hanging in my shower still wet.

The dryer cost a dollar at my apartment, and that seemed mighty steep for one shirt. What's a guy to do? I know, I bet if I throw it in the microwave for a minute then hang it in front of the air conditioner it'll be dry in no time. Now what I wasn't considering at 4:30 this morning is that most athletic wear is pretty much made of plastic. I melted my shirt. Instead of being out a buck, now I have to buy a $20 shirt.

Anyway, I ended up wearing stuff I fished out of the Bog of Eternal Stench and did a smelly 8 miles in 55 minutes. Tomorrow  is 75-90 minutes easy in a shiny new shirt.

Life V. Marathon Day 16

Today was a speed day, which meant 3 miles on the track. Today it was 400, 800, and 1200s. The 800s are truly challenging. We sprint the first 200, then 75% the next 200, then repeat.

My Garmin died during the last 400, so I don't have a complete workout recorded.

Life V. Marathon Day 15

Today was an easy 50 minutes. I guess I don't understand what easy means because I ran 6:30 pace for about 35 minutes. My usual 50-60 minute route wasn't enough, I ended up circling the block a few times.

Yes, I forgot to post this run. I woke up in a panic remembering that I had not posted. That's why I'm now sitting in front of my computer, in my underwear, typing this. Boxer briefs if you must know.

Life V. Marathon Day 14

Easy day today. I did 55 minutes at about 7:10 pace. On days like these I tend to get lost in thought while running. I had a thought to start another blog of just short stories, things that don't quite fit into the running or art categories.

Tomorrow is another 50-60 minutes easy. Enjoy.

Life V. Marathon Day 13

Started out the morning with a 5k warm-up at about 8 minutes pace. Then it was race time. My goal for this summer is to run a sub-16 minute 5k, and all indicators say that this is possible. The only problem is, come race day, I just can't bring the speed.

I ran a 16:49 today. Once again I was way off the mark. For me, I believe it is totally a mental barrier that I have to break through. At about mile 2 my pace slows, usually a half mile later I'm able to regain composure. I'm working on figuring this out, if anyone has any good advice it would be appreciated.

I was suppose to do 10k after the race, but ended up only doing 5k.

Life V. Marathon Day 12

Wonderful Friday! Today was recovery day, I did 3.5 miles of easy jogging in about 28 minutes. Tomorrow's workout is 5k warm-up, 5k race, 10k easy.

Life V. Marathon Day 11

I know this heat situation has been in the news lately, but come on, this is ridiculous. It's down-right oppressive out there. The plan was to run 75 minutes this evening. I started with my running club's hills course at 6pm, which is 7.5 mile. At about mile 5 I decided I needed to change things up because I didn't think I was going to make it.

This is what I did; I cut it short and grabbed something to drink. Then I jogged back to my place to cool off for a minute, have a pee break, and grabbed more to drink. At this point I had only been running for 43 minutes, lucky for me there's a group that meets at my local track to do mile repeats at 7pm. I headed over to the track. With the mile there, 3 miles of repeats, and the mile back I was able to hit 75mins.

Living by yourself has it's perks. Once I got home I stripped off my sweaty shorts, laid a towel on the floor, and just laid there naked. It does cross my mind when I do this, what if I have a heart attack and die? What will the investigating officers assumed happened:

Cop 1: Do you think this is the work of a serial killer?
Cop 2: Maybe it was suicide and he thought this would make it easier for us?
Cop 3: Na, look at those expensive running socks he's still wearing, he just overheated and was trying to cool off.

Life V. Marathon Day 10

It was one of those rare mornings where I woke up on time, ate breakfast, and was out the door on time, and feeling 100%. I met a friend at 6am and did 8 miles in 55minutes. If you haven't done it, you should run your usual route backwards, it makes it seem as fresh as a new puppy.

Someone that is actually following me (can you believe it?) asked me to post the next days run when I blog about today's run. Here it is: 75-90 minutes easy.

Live V. Marathon Day 9

The Sun was shining down on us for this evenings track workout. It was hot, but we were spared the usual steaminess. I've gotta hand it to Bill for tonight's workout, it was perfect. Mostly middle distance stuff; 400 and 800 intervals. I was feeling strong.

I have days when I think that I just haven't really accomplished anything, but then I go for a run. Somehow a good run can make up for a day's shortcomings.

Life V. Marathon- Eating

 Breakfast 1- 4:30am pre-run

1/2 serving of Oatmeal made with Almond Milk

1/2 Banana (the other half is shoved in my face while I wait for microwave)

and a drizzling of honey

 Breakfast 2 Post-run

2 eggs, mixed veggies, lentils

 Lunch 1

Baked chicken breast, mixed veggies, lentils

 Lunch 2

Salad- Spring Mix, tomato, cucumber, and
avocado (better source of potassium than bananas) 

Olive oil and vinegar dressing

Dinner 

2 Baked chicken thighs, lentils, salad

I know,not much variety here. It's easier on my stomach that way. Also, it's easier to prepare all the protein and legumes at the beginning of the week. Not pictured here is the 16 oz. glass of water I drink with each meal. My menu tends to change weekly, I'll pick different vegetables, meat, and legumes.  My hand is there for size reference. 

Just a note: I'm not a nutritionist,  so I am not suggesting you eat like me. This is just to show what I eat on a daily basis.

Life V. Marathon Day 8

Monday, the beginning of week 2. Today I ran 53 minutes at an easy pace and ended up doing 7.5 miles. At one point I thought there was something seriously wrong with me. I was hearing this weird popping noise coming from I abdomen, then I passed gas and all was right with the world. I wonder if Congress passed gas in unison if this whole debt ceiling thing would just go away?

Life V. Marathon Day 7

2 hours, 16.5 miles, 2001 calories burned, and one "nice shorts" comment, it was a good day for running.

Life V. Marathon Day 6

Well that was a train wreck. I was up at 5:30am hoping to get out the door by 6:30am. I hesitated before heading out. Maybe today's plan; 6 miles easy, 4 miles MP, 1 mile easy, 4 miles tempo, 1 mile easy, had me nervous, my stomach just wasn't right. It took an hour and a half before I felt I could run comfortably.

By that point it was after 8am, the heat index was already at 98 degrees, and the humidity was 100%. I ended up doing 6 miles easy, 2 miles MP, then 2 slow, sweaty miles to my front door. That was all I could manage. Hopefully, tomorrow goes better.

Life V. Marathon Day 5

Recovery day, my favorite day. Pretty much just 30 minutes of wandering around my neighborhood. We're all so busy that most the time we never take a closer look at where we live. I took the opportunity to run through the campus of Florida Southern College this evening. It left me feeling energized and ready to tackle the challenging weekend of running I have ahead of me.

Life V. Marathon Day 4

On Thursdays I usually run the hill workout with the Runners Club, which meets down the road from my house at 6pm. Tonight was also the Runners Club's monthly meeting, it started at 7pm. If you're following my plan you know that I am scheduled to run at least 75 minutes this evening. I wanted to make the meeting tonight so I started my run at 5pm to give me enough time to shower before the meeting.

Florida. July. 5pm. 75 minutes. Suffer-fest. 

Life V. Marathon Day 3

My alarm went off at 4 this morning. I agreed to do a tempo run with another runner, I hit snooze, three times. I slowly dragged myself from my bed and made my way to the bathroom. The light burned my eyes and the water I splashed on my face was shockingly cold. After I wipe the last bit of sleep from my eyes it was off to the kitchen to drink some water and eat a little oatmeal.

I jumped on my bike and headed to our agreed upon meeting place. The plan was to do an 8 mile tempo run at my friend's pace of 6:40 per mile, which fit in perfectly to my scheduled 50-60 minute moderate run. After a warm-up mile we quickly sped up to pace. We had been running for about 40 minutes when my stomach decide it just wasn't going to take this much longer. Luckily, we were at our starting point when my stomach protested so I excused myself and slowed to a stop to let things calm down.

Once I felt back to normal I jumped on my bike and headed for home. I had only run 40 minutes so I drop my bike off, hit the bathroom, and then hit the pavement for another 15 minutes. Sometimes your workout isn't perfect, don't hesitate to accommodate according to how you're feeling. 

Life V. Marathon Day 2

Today was speed, so I headed out the door 25 minutes early to get in my warm-up. 3 miles of speed at my local high school track was a mix of 200, 400, 600, and 800 meter intervals on another hot and steamy Florida evening. I decided to finish up my 25 minute cool-down at a wine bar close to my home, which also host a 5k fun run every Tuesday night (how convenient). This is where the  whole "Life V. Marathon" thing comes in. I was able to enjoy a couple pints of brew with some fellow runners and I was able to get to know my neighbor at the same time. Overall, an excellent day of running.

Life V. Marathon Day 1

Monday July 11, 2011

Holy smokes! Heat index of 90 and 86% Humidity at 7pm. I don't have a TV, but I'm guessing our local weather map was covered with soup ladles. I ran 51 minutes at 7 minute pace, it ended up being 7.25 miles. As soon as I finished I had a huge glass of water followed by a cold shower. Day 1 done.

Life V. Marathon Week One-Four

There's a huge difference between racing and finishing a marathon. While finishing a marathon is a great achievement, it can be accomplished with a fairly basic training plan and lots of easy miles. To race a marathon, however, requires a much greater commitment.That's why I'm calling this project "Life V. Marathon". The quest is to figure out a way to train at a high level with minimum disruption to my everyday responsibilities and activities.

Over the next 20 weeks I will be training for the Space Coast Marathon, which takes place on Nov. 27th. I ran this race back in 2009 finishing in 2:53:04, I came in 9th overall and grabbed an age group win. I'm setting a pretty high goal for myself for this years race; finish in under 2:40. I'm hoping that telling all of you this will give me the motivation to accomplish this and keep me on track.

The first 4 weeks will be devoted to solidifying my base and the last 16 weeks I will be focusing like a laser on hitting my goal marathon pace of 6:05 per mile. This will be my 5th marathon, so I've already put in my base work, and I'm coming into this plan already running from 50 to 60 miles a week. Please, if you are thinking about following along, you should have a year of consistent running behind you and a base of about 40 miles per week. Also, talk to your doctor, I will not be held responsible for what you crazy people (I hold crazy people in high regard) choose to do.

Below is my plan for the next 4 weeks. Due to my pacing I will end up doing about 70 miles a week. Here are my paces for the workouts (you plug in your paces):
Easy = 7min or slower pace
Speed= 5:15 pace
10k pace= 5:30
Tempo= 5:40
Marathon= 6:05 pace 

Monday- Easy 50-60 mins.
Tuesday- 25 min warm-up; 3 miles speed work; 25 min cool-down.
Wednesday- Easy to moderate 50-60 mins.
Thursday- Midweek longer run of 75-90 mins. Progressive run with last 15 mins at 10k pace.
Friday- Recovery day of 30 easy jog or day off.
Saturday- 6 miles easy, 4 miles marathon pace, 1mile easy, 4 miles tempo, 1 mile easy.
Sunday- Long run of 120-150 mins easy.

Alternate weekends with:
Saturday- 5k warm-up, 5k race, 10k easy.
Sunday- 50- 60 minutes easy.